Copper fouling question

[RemingtonAI]

I leave the copper in. Bore snake once through the barrel after firing at the end of the day and that's it. Clean her once in every 600 rounds or so. May not deliver "bench rest precision" but I still have no problem staying on the 5" gong at 600 yrds. This way I'm obtaining a copper equilibrium that is consistent for a longer duration and a slower rate of buildup than if the bore was smooth. Stays accurate all year through the extreme seasonal changes here in Florida (kidding). I am curious as to what kind of accuracy, or precision I should say, I might gain from having a "bench rest" style cleaning regime compared to my heathen methods. Maybe one day i'll try it. Jesse

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I leave the copper in. Bore snake once through the barrel after firing at the end of the day and that's it. Clean her once in every 600 rounds or so. May not deliver "bench rest precision" but I still have no problem staying on the 5" gong at 600 yrds. This way I'm obtaining a copper equilibrium that is consistent for a longer duration and a slower rate of buildup than if the bore was smooth. Stays accurate all year through the extreme seasonal changes here in Florida (kidding). I am curious as to what kind of accuracy, or precision I should say, I might gain from having a "bench rest" style cleaning regime compared to my heathen methods. Maybe one day i'll try it. Jesse

Youd be surprised what itll do after a correct cleaning. Itll last longer too. Carbon is one step away from diamonds. For your gong you may not see the accuracy gain but it sure wont hurt.

 

[LawrenceHanson]

Trouble is, if they find a problem they all are willing to give u a new blank for nothing, but they are not going to pay for the chamber job. I sent a barrel back to Rock Creek and they were nice enough to make me a new barrel blank and send it to my gunsmith, but I had to pay my gunsmith to chamber it again.

Jim nailed it.

The better barrel manufacturers will provide you with a new blank if you provide them with a good argument. However, you will need to spend another $250 or so to have your replacement barrel blank fitted and chambered.

So, you have to make a decision, can you live with the fouling, or would you rather take a chance and spend another $250?

I had a Kreiger like that. It was a good shooter so I decided to live with the fouling. Just learned to keep up with it regularly.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Id bet since its not even broken in yet that itll be fine

 

[JRS]

I guess I have to say it again, When ever I put a new barrel on a rifle. I us a bore scope to take a look inside, you can see the marks the reamer leaves. So now what you want to do is smooth them out buy scrubbing it with JB. Or Isso then when you get it looking good now use Flitz to really polish it up. This will keep the barrel from copper fouling. I do this with all my barrels and they clean up very quickly.
Keeps the tool marks from ripping jacket on the bullet!

Joe Salt

You have to understand, Joe, you are not removing the machining marks. You are removing the surrounding steel to the depth of the machining marks, thereby increasing the diameter of the chamber/barrel. You're blending it in.

 

[lpreddick]

i just installed a new 30 cal barrel and began breaking it in. This thing copper fouls bad. Is there anything I can do to slow this down or stop it? Shots 1-3 looked like a copper mine. Shots 4&5 had copper and cleaned up a bit easier but geez this isn't fun. Today I shot 2 more rounds thru it using a different bullet and still it coppered. Again it cleaned out pretty easy using Montana extreme bore paste. This is my first ever barrel to do this right out of the gate so I'm just a bit worried. I have hopes it'll go away but just in case I'm looking for alternate solutions if it doesn't.

Oh I shot cleaned shot cleaned etc. no strings yet.

since i got my hawkeye i'v learned a lot about the inside of a barrel. copper fouling may be of two types. streaks, esp on the lands, suggest jacket copper being stripped from the bullet and this can be seen anywhere in the bore. i have looked in the muzzel and seen that little copper streak right up to the crown. lapping or repeated shooting might smooth the roughness out, as some barrels stop coppering after being "broken in". i'v seen copper "painted" over several inches of bore' esp in the grooves. this last copper fouling seems to be esp noted in the last foot or so of the bore. i can often feel this latter cooper when pushing a patch slowly and it comes out diffusely blue. i wonder if this latter copper fouling represents jacket copper vaporized by heat and deposited in the cooler distal barrel. FWIW, there is a bore coating product...dyna tek bore coating, consisting of ceramic particles that supposedly coats the bore with a glass-like layer that reduces copper fouling or allows easier removal. i use this religiously and have custom barrels that do not copper and some that copper lightly but clean very quickly.

 

[JRS]

Barrel steel varies from lot, to lot. Some foul more/less than others. High pressure loads also contribute to copper fouling.

 

[Joe Salt]

You have to understand, Joe, you are not removing the machining marks. You are removing the surrounding steel to the depth of the machining marks, thereby increasing the diameter of the chamber/barrel. You're blending it in.

Call it what you want, but it works and I don't have problems with copper in my barrels. Its the smart thing to do instead of just shooting!

Joe Salt